INTERVIEW WITH ALMAMY OF BONDOU. 145 
I found lying in his court on a little elevation, near a blazing 
fire. A numerous circle of Negroes sat round him smoking. 
Almamy of Bondou is a lively old man, and I had no fault 
to find with him ; he wore a scarlet cap on his head, a 
cotton tunic, and Turkish slippers ; his costume and the 
colour of his complexion gave him a strong resemblance to 
the Moors. I saluted him and seated myself by his side ; a 
proceeding which no doubt appeared to him rather too familiar, 
for he ordered a sheep-skin to be spread on the sand for me 
to sit down upon, a little below him ; after several idle 
questions respecting my journey, and some warm eulogiums 
on Boukari, whom he much esteemed, it was agreed that I 
should go into Fou ta Jallon, and that I should have a guide 
named Maka, of whom I had reason to entertain a favourable 
opinion. When following the Fouta army, exhausted by 
sickness and thirst, Maka had given me the water which he 
was carrying along with him in order to refresh me ; this act ' 
of humanity had so much attached me to him, that I asked 
for him in preference to all others as the companion of my 
journey. 
Every kindness demands a recompence, yet I durst not 
give Almamy my present before all his people : perceiving my 
embarrassment, he desired me to step behind him, and I put 
into his hand my powder-horn, which was coveted by too 
many people not to be stolen some day or other. Almamy 
u 
